Itongadol.- ADL criticizes US Vice President for use of the term "Shylock" in speech referring to bank moneylenders.
US Vice President Joe Biden admitted on Wednesday that using the term Shylock in a speech had been a "poor choice of words," following criticism from the Anti Defamation League\’s (ADL).
The US vice President drew criticism from the Anti Defamation League (ADL) for using the anti-Semitic term "Shylock" in a speech.
“Shylock represents the medieval stereotype about Jews and remains an offensive characterization to this day,” the national director of the ADL Abraham Foxman said. “The Vice President should have been more careful.”
"Abe Foxman has been a friend and adviser of mine for a long time. He’s correct, it was a poor choice of words, particularly as he said coming from ‘someone as friendly to the Jewish community and open and tolerant an individual as is Vice President Joe Biden.’ He’s right," said Biden in a statement provided by his office Wednesday.
While Biden was referring to bank and moneylenders haggling people serving the United States overseas, the term originally comes from William Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice.” In the play, Shylock is a Jewish moneylender, and use of the name to refer to greed has been called offensive by organizations such as the ADL, among others.